new desktop

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 11:04 am

After some back and forth, turns out the discount program at work only works for specific vendors. Naturally, not one single visual feedback mechanism on the website informs you of this unless you read the fine print and learn how to interpret the pictographic language of fucked up icons/symbols being used. On one hand, means I'm not saving any significant cash with the points. On the other hand, means I can start ordering shit now. The purchasing in earnest begins this week. Local Wally World allegedly has my case for less than New Egg. Might go pick it up and save on shipping and handling.

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 11:10 am

Sweet. Full tower on sale from New Egg.

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 11:40 am

Hell, yes. This looks to be a solid foundation. Plenty of space and airflow.

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 6:20 pm

The CM Storm Trooper case is a slam dunk over the NZXT Phantom.

Phantom
5 ext 5.25" DRIVE BAYS
7 int 3.5"/2.5" Slots
7 expansion slots
1 x Audio/Mic, 2 x USB 2.0, 1 x eSATA, 5 Channel Fan Controller
Comes in seven colour schemes, including pink with black stripes

Storm Trooper
9 External 5.25" Drive Bays
8 Internal 3.5" Drive Bays (converted from 5.25" bay by two 4-in 3 HDD modules)
13 Internal 2.5" Drive Bays (converted from 5.25" bay by two 4-in 3 HDD modules)
9 + 1 Expansion Slots
USB 3.0 x 2 (internal), USB 2.0 x 2, e-SATA x 1, Audio In and Out ( Supports HD audio)
Comes in one colour -- motherfucking black

Price difference after rebate: Storm Trooper costs about $10 more.

Post by **TheCatt** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 6:36 pm

MOAR BAYS

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 7:14 pm

Thinking Logitech G710 for a keyboard. Found one at two-thirds that price.

Post by **GORDON** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 7:21 pm

This is the keyboard I am using. Love it.

http://www.amazon.com/Logitec....ds=g510

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 7:54 pm

Hmm. Might go with the G19s.

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Wed Mar 19, 2014 9:07 pm

Alrighty. Fucker is fully spec'd out.

CPU
Intel Core i7-4770K 3.50GHz

Vid
GeForce GTX 780 Ti GHZ because you can never have enough fans

Mobo
Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H

Case
CM Storm Trooper Full tower. Shipped.

Power
Corsair AX series 760W

RAM
Mushkin 8GBx2 DDR3-1600MHz 12800 Silverline

HDD
Western Digital Red NAS Hard Drive WD30EFRX 3TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5". Bought.

SSD
Mushkin Chronos 240GB SATA III. Already got it.

Display
ASUS VS24AH-P Blk 24" LED Backlit LCD, x2

Keyboard
Logitech G19s

Mouse
CM Storm Sentinel Advance II

Edited By Malcolm on 1395339465

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Wed Mar 19, 2014 9:54 pm

Looks like the CPU is about 10% off on NewEgg and has Total War: Rome 2. Vid card is $30 cheaper at Wally World and ships with Daylight. Might be time to pull the trigger on them since I don't see the prices dropping any better than that. I could see getting a better deal on HDD or monitors (damn I'm hoping for that so I can snatch 2 for cheap), so perhaps I'll give the NewEgg daily deals a bit more of a chance.

Post by **TheCatt** » Wed Mar 19, 2014 10:09 pm

Nice!

Post by **Cakedaddy** » Wed Mar 19, 2014 10:23 pm

http://www.microcenter.com/product....ocessor

They normally knock a bunch off mother boards with CPU purchases as well. This makes them much cheaper than Newegg. Rest of the parts, they are competitive, but tax makes Newegg cheaper.

They have that motherboard too. Not sure what you are seeing it for. Can get a complete opened box one for an additional $30 off. I've never done that though.

Lastly, my last system build, I fucked something up when installing the CPU. Long story short, I bent the fuck out of the pins on the motherboard. When I called the store about exchanging the board (didn't say what was wrong. Only that board manufacturer tech support said I needed to contact my local store about a new one.) they said "As long as the pins aren't bent". I went anyway. At the exchange, they opened mine up and saw the fucked up pins. He 'talked to the manager' and said "This time, one time only, we'll exchange it". Saved me $250. Thank you Micro Center.

Edited By Cakedaddy on 1395282783

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Wed Mar 19, 2014 11:01 pm

Can get a complete opened box one for an additional $30 off. I've never done that though.

I bought a single open box item. Once. Many years ago. Video card. Never fucking again. I was back at the store the next day.

There's a Micro Center that's perhaps a fifteen minute drive from me. Would be awesome if I could pickup there and not have to pay for shitty shipping.

...

HOLY FUCK. CPU is $30 cheaper at MC. Hmm. Mobo is listed as $10 higher than NE, but it's somehow coming in $20 under NE during checkout. I suppose there's some kind of auto-bundling discount dealie? I'm almost certainly ordering and picking CPU + mobo this week. Bonus because I don't care about the freebie TW:R2 as much as Daylight. That game looks to be packaged with the GTX 780 Ti, regardless of vendor or edition.

Damn. Nothing for the vid card, though.

Edited By Malcolm on 1395285813

Post by **Cakedaddy** » Wed Mar 19, 2014 11:23 pm

Ya, like I said, they offer bundle discounts. It's not uncommon for them to have a whole list of MBs that will have a $50 discount when purchased with a CPU. The list is longer in the store than online in my experience. Even with tax, the price is generally a respectable amount less than Newegg. I will go in with a few motherboards I'd buy. One of them has always been on the list.

I have ordered online and picked up in store as well. If online stock shows +10 in stock, I don't bother. I go in and find out what bundle deals they have.

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Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Wed Mar 19, 2014 11:32 pm

Since I'm going to end up physically walking into this place one way or the other, I'll look into the mobo when I grab the CPU. I can't tell if I'm getting an open box one or not.

Stranger · Post by **Stranger** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 8:20 am

Cakedaddy wrote:Long story short, I bent the fuck out of the pins on the motherboard.

Thats what happens when you get a software guy doing hardware things... Noob! :p

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 10:21 am

Stranger wrote:
Cakedaddy wrote:Long story short, I bent the fuck out of the pins on the motherboard.
Thats what happens when you get a software guy doing hardware things... Noob! :p

No, that happens to idiots across all disciplines, including hardware. Worst story I ever heard was some dude trying to force a CPU with too many pins into an outdated mobo.

"For some reason, the pin configurations didn't match, so I just soldered the extra ones together on the processor."

Post by **GORDON** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 10:27 am

How could someone with enough knowledge to solder not know you can't just cross pins and circuits willy nilly?

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 10:57 am

GORDON wrote:How could someone with enough knowledge to solder not know you can't just cross pins and circuits willy nilly?

The proverbial knife edge of knowledge.

Additionally, anyone have any opinions on Western Digital HDDs? I had a couple fail on me before, but that was a decade ago. That still seems to be the primary complaint with them, and it seems to be a real crap shoot on whether or not the drives arrive in working order and WD still, for some reason unknown to god, man, and the devil, adamantly refuses to publish the RPM speeds on some of their models.

Like this, on sale today. The 3TB Seagate Barracuda with a published 7200 RPM rating is only about $110, so the price drop on the WD Red is going to have to be huge.

Edited By Malcolm on 1395327460

Post by **TheCatt** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 11:33 am

This seems relevant